Still Life With Chickens has been longlisted for the 2017 Adam New Zealand Play Award.
Nice.
STILL LIFE WITH CHICKENS: update
Tai Ho
The excellent Toby Morris piece below calmed me down the other day.
It’s much more resonant than a “Keep calm and [INSERT EXHORTATION]” meme or what-have-you.
Finding the balance between knowing one’s limits and pushing beyond them is an ongoing challenge.
Yes, on occasion I have rued the consequences of an “How hard can it be?”-inspired adventure.
But however they end, when the smoke clears and I’m either still standing or not in handcuffs (or better, both), I’ve at least learnt something new about the world, my craft or myself.
Some of my limits are just because. Others are there to be extended.
It’s Who You Know II
Almost a decade on from this exchange, another Name of Power came to the rescue.
FORTRESS MAMEA -- FOUR WEEKS AGO
PET WRITER
(into telephone)
Hi there, may I speak with K~, please. ... Sure. My name is David Mamea and she can call me on nn-nnn-nnnn.
FORTRESS MAMEA -- TWO WEEKS AGO
PET WRITER
(into telephone)
Hi A~, may I speak with K~, please. ... Of course: my name is David Mamea and my number is nn-nnn-nnnn.
FORTRESS MAMEA -- LAST WEEK
PET WRITER
(into telephone)
... Hi K~, my name’s David Mamea. If you could please call me on nn-nnn-nnnn, I’d be grateful.
FORTRESS MAMEA -- THIS MORNING
Our Pet Writer messages FACEBOOK FRIEND:
PET WRITER
(on Messenger)
I’m trying to talk to K~ but I’m not getting anywhere. What should I do?
FORTRESS MAMEA -- TEN MINUTES LATER
Our Pet Writer’s CELLPHONE RINGS:
PET WRITER
(into cell)
David speaking.
K~
(V.O.; filter)
Hi there, K~ here. How can I help?
FORTRESS MAMEA -- NOW
Our Pet Writer is on Facebook:
FACEBOOK FRIEND
(on Messenger)
I told K~ to call you.
PET WRITER
(on Messenger)
They did. You THE MAN.
FACEBOOK FRIEND
(on Messenger)
It’s good to have friends in high places, isn’t it? To be honest I’m not in a high place. I’m sitting on the couch in my undies.
I won’t be able to unsee that last image for some time but damn it’s good to know people.
TO’ONA’I: now online
A certain short film was quietly uploaded a few years back.
It’s just been moved from Unlisted to Public.
Interim Post #01
Reduce
We wanted some comfort telly recently, so a few Law & Order eps were screened and it was comforting.
This evening The Goddess and I tried a new police procedural show — and boy oh boy were there a heckuva lot of shots of:
- driving to/from work/crime-scene/witness;
- walking to/from office/room/building.
It was unfortunate timing for the latter show to follow so soon after some L&O eps.
But still illuminating from a storytelling point of view.
(I know Apocalypse Now is a galaxy away from television police procedurals but it was all I could find on reducing right down.)
2016 in Points
I’ve been putting off this post because… it’s been another pathetic year on the page-turning front: 29 titles. This makes 2015 look so much better (but it’s still not good enough as a Writer).
Stand-out reads:
- My Name Was Judas by C K Stead
- The Private Eye by Brian K Vaughan, Marcos Martin and Mutsa Vicente
- The Walking Dead 150–161 by Robert Kirkman and various artists
- Mississipi Grind (3 March 2014 draft) by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck
- Lost Dogs by Jeff Lemire
I know.
I know.
Must. Make. Time.
2016 in Pixels
Okay, I’ve been a bit laggardly on the fitness and health side of things but that’s okay: I’ve been investing those ‘lost’ hours in my televisual research (145 titles totalling 496 hours, up a respectable amount from last year).
By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, Link
Enjoyed on the big screen were:
- Mississippi Grind
- Deadpool
- 45 Years
- The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
- The Nice Guys
- La Isla Minima
- Keanu
- The Accountant
- Blood Simple
- 99 Homes
Honourable mentions: Beach Boy Brian Wilson biopic Love and Mercy, unexpectedly affecting Rocky spin-off Creed, the unlikely and uncompromising Young Adult, the ridiculously fun Central Intelligence, and Florence Foster Jenkins which I was totally prepared to hate but couldn’t because it was so well executed.
By DreamWorks Television and/or FX – The Americans, Season one episode five “COMINT“, Public Domain, Link
The small screen offerings held their own:
- The Americans S01–04
- The Expanse S01
- Getting On (UK, 2008) S01–03
- Better Call Saul S02
- Low Winter Sun (UK, 2006)
- Animals Pilot
- Westworld S01
- Game of Thrones S06
- Catastrophe S02
- The Good Wife S07
Honourable mentions: low key sci-fi robot drama Humans S02, an happy bonus season of Offspring S06, and Transparent S02 which continues to make me scratch my head after each ep but unable to stop pressing the Next button for the next episode.
(I’d actually already watched the first two seasons of The Americans but made the mistake of introducing the Goddess to the pilot. It was a hard slog rewatching those first two seasons, I tell you.) (It wasn’t a hard slog — it’s a damned good show.)
Bring on 2017!
2016 in Calories
I have been derelict in my “body-as-weapon-temple” duties.
Forty exercise sessions, down five from last year. And although I only did two less runs this year, the mileage says it all: 254 kilometres, down 50 from last year.
By some small miracle, my clothes still fit me. So wardrobe-wise, I’m all good, ho ho ho. Fitness-wise, however, there’s work to be done.
Smoko Time
It’s that time of year when there’s little point in shilling my work around — the Silly Season is almost upon us all and surviving the season intact is a reasonable priority.
I’ve some “2016 by [Screen/Print/Mileage]” posts to begin drafting, there are some loose networking ends to tie up, and sundry writing housekeeping duties to expedite.
The blog may be a bit light on writing-related posts for the duration but don’t worry: there are plenty of animal pictures to go around.